Field of the Disclosure
The present disclosure, for example, relates to wireless communication systems, and more particularly to identifying, avoiding, and/or allowing limited access to sub-optimal cells.
Description of Related Art
Wireless communication systems are widely deployed to provide various types of communication content such as voice, video, packet data, messaging, broadcast, and so on. These systems may be multiple-access systems capable of supporting communication with multiple users by sharing the available system resources (e.g., time, frequency, and power). Examples of such multiple-access systems include code-division multiple access (CDMA) systems, time-division multiple access (TDMA) systems, frequency-division multiple access (FDMA) systems, and orthogonal frequency-division multiple access (OFDMA) systems.
A wireless communication system may include a number of base stations (e.g., a base station forming part or all of an evolved Node B (eNB)) or wireless local area network (WLAN) access points (APs) capable of supporting wireless communication for various user equipment (UEs). A UE may communicate with a base station or WLAN AP via downlink and uplink. The downlink (or forward link) refers to the communication link from the base station or WLAN AP to the UE, and the uplink (or reverse link) refers to the communication link from the UE to the base station or WLAN AP.
Some wireless communication systems may include cells (e.g., base stations or APs) that perform sub-optimally. In some cases, a UE may determine a sub-optimal cell is a suitable cell to associate with or camp on (e.g., because a radio frequency (RF) link established with the sub-optimal cell is strong). However, the sub-optimal cell may be unable to obtain service (or adequate service) from a network, or may provide fewer services or capabilities, or a lower service level (e.g., a lower Quality of Service (QoS)) than a neighbor cell). A UE's association with or camping on the cell may therefore provide a user of the UE with a poor user experience, and support for improved communications between a UE and cells is desired.